ARX Architecture
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
This house is located in Sagres (Algarve), the furthest southwest location in Portugal.
This town hosted the Navigation School behind the “Portuguese Discoveries”, established in the 15th century by the infant D. Henrique.
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Five centuries have gone by and nowadays these waters are famous for windsurfing.
Land is being split in generic parcels of typical resorts, claiming for a superficial architectural idea of a “portuguese house”, to please and sell to foreign tourists. The house was developed along the precise regulations, defined in the urbanistic project, from distances to borders, access and total amount of construction area and volume.
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
The highest and longest volume is located in the north to create an protect a central marble patio from the strong and permanent winds. An “L” shaped bedroom wing helps creating privacy from the acess road into the pool. Inside and outside spaces are always articulated by courtyards, a typology from the moorish legacy, while filtering views to selected fragments of untouched landscape.
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
The house is white and the roofs are flat, as they where often built in traditional architecture in this area, for drying fruits an fish, leaving us a particular architectural heritage that turistic resorts seem to have forgotten.
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Photo © FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
ground floor plan--drawing Courtesy of ARX Architecture
first floor plan--drawing Courtesy of ARX Architecture
north elevation--drawing Courtesy of ARX Architecture
south elevation--drawing Courtesy of ARX Architecture
section--drawing Courtesy of ARX Architecture
model 01--drawing Courtesy of ARX Architecture
model 02--drawing Courtesy of ARX ArchitectureThe people
Architects: ARX PORTUGAL - José Mateus y Nuno Mateus
Location: Martinhal, Portugal
Project year: 2002-2003
Construction year: 2005-2007
Constructed area: 320 sqm
Structure: SAFRE, Estudos e Projectos de Engenharia Lda.
Area: 320m2
Photographs: FG + SG - Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra
Distinguished with the “International Architecture Awards“, The Chicago Athenaeum, EUA, 2008
via:e-architect/archdialy
